1 dead, 14 hurt by frying pan blast at German village fest

In this Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019 photo police officers investigate a booth after an explosion at a village festival in Freudenberg, Germany. Authorities say 14 people have been injured, five of them with life-threatening burns, during an explosion at a village festival in western Germany. Police told German news agency dpa that it appears likely that oil inside a big frying pan caused the explosion at the local ‘Backesfest’ (bakery festival) that was attended by about 100 people. (Berthold Stamm/dpa via AP)

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

BERLIN (AP) — Police say one woman has died from severe burns sustained during a frying pan explosion that also injured 14 at a village festival in western Germany.

Another five people were in life-threatening condition — four from burns and one who suffered a heart attack during the explosion at the festival in Freudenberg, the German news agency dpa reported Monday.

Police told dpa it appears likely that oil inside a big frying pan caused the blast at the local Backesfest Sunday that was attended by about 100 people.

The explosion may have been triggered by raindrops falling into the hot oil, but investigators said it would still take them several days to fully understand what happened.

The Backesfest celebrates the annual start of operations of a traditional old bakery in the village.

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.